Some hundred people, men and women, were gathered on the hill. Many more, I could see, were trudging up. Their faces were resolute. I asked why they were opposing the cement plant. Their answer was simple: “We cannot eat cement.” “But the plant will bring you employment and prosperity,” I said. The reply this time, with a touch of irritation, was: “We have our fields and now with the water in the tank we have good produce. We are not rich like you but we have food to eat.” I persisted, “But your land is not being taken away to build the plant. The government says it has only allocated village grazing land and wasteland to build the factory.” Their anger spilled out.

CSE released its cover story on the rapid industrialisation in Chhattisgarh on November 15, 2010 at Raipur, Chhattisgarh. The event was organised by Ekta Parishad. The cover was based on a detailed analysis of the proposed industries in the state, their land and water requirement and whether that state will be able to meet this requirement.

Should India import and reprocess the world’s growing mountains of junk and toxic garbage? Should this become our business opportunity, capitalizing on the fact that rich countries need cheaper and more efficient ways of dealing with their waste—everything from electronic to medical? The question is if we can manage the waste of others, even as we struggle and fail to deal with our own piles of garbage.

CSE's landmark study on how India will reduce emissions to combat climate change.

In 2009, CSE began analysing the six most emissions-intensive industrial sectors to find out how Indian industry performs – and will perform in future - in terms of reduction in emissions. These sectors – power, steel, cement, aluminium, paper and pulp and fertilizers - together accounted for over 60 per cent of India’s CO2 emissions in 2008-09.

India is poised for a rapid economic growth - an 8 per cent GDP growth rate annually over the next two decades is now considered a settled matter. But there are major resource constraints to this growth story that economists talk about but have hardly taken into account in their growth projections.

This book is based on a study of the six most energy/emissions-intensive sectors of India, with the aim of determining India's low carbon growth options. The sectors covered are power, steel, aluminium, cement, fertilisers and paper and pulp. Together, these six sectors account for an estimated 61.5 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in India (excluding emissions from agriculture and waste)…